Representation essay- Homeland

This short clip taken from the TV crime Drama, 'Homeland', the core media representation groups of status and gender are presented. Gender is shown through the main character trying to get information out of a prisoner who is soon to be executed. This woman is portrayed as strong and brave transcending the normal conventions men are normally portrayed as independent and confident. This woman shows that she is eager to get the information from the prisoner who has on the imamate attack on US soil by helping him commute his sentence. However, with this fails, she shows her tough side when she offers to help the prisoners family in trade for his intel on the attack. Status is also shown throughout this film from switching between nice shots and intense shots showing a fancy cocktail dinner night, then back to shots of the foreign country which is presented as dusty and messy.  This film creates meaning through of the technical elements of sound, editing, mise-en scene, and camera work, which works with the representation theory, where a particular person or group of people are being represented to the audience. 

Mise en scene refers to everything in the shot from lighting, costumes, makeup, props, symbolism and iconography. The costumes shown in the film connote well to the representation areas of gender and social status. Woman and men are seen wearing religious headwear and long robes creating another strong representation group of ethnicity. In Baghdad, not only the locals are seen wearing these outfits. The American woman in the show is seen wearing a head covering like she is respecting the foreign country she is in. In the opening shots there is natural lighting outside which shows Baghdad as being dusty, messy and intense which connotes to the representation group of status. In these shots the audience are taken between two worlds through a phone where the woman is on an important phone call with a man over in America. During this call using sound bridges we see the difference between the two countries and the different cultures. First seen in Iraq,  the shaky hand held shots connote with the intensity of the people walking around on the street, the beeping of the horns from cars and a que of cars waiting to get past. On the other hand, over in America we see how they are presented through the nice cocktail party with the polite talking and laughing with the classical music playing in the background. In this film the audience have seen two different cultures in just a few seconds contrasting with each other making social status a big representational group to be discussed. Later on in the clip we see bribery and corruption in the culture of Iraq where one of the soldiers betrays their group and helps the woman get into the prison to talk to the prisoner. This happens through an exchange of money which helps let the audience know that these people living in Iraq don't make much money and that is why one of the soldiers goes behind his teams back to help the woman get in for two minutes. Low lighting is seen on the inside of the prison which makes it seem dark and scary and ultimately intimidating. Shots of the prisoner are only seen through little hole which symbolizes the prisoners lack of freedom and torture. At this prison barbed wire, concrete walls and the soldiers prepping for someone to be hung sets the scene for this prison letting the audience know that they are very strict which is why the woman had to pay her way into the prison. Lastly, the soldiers at the prison are seen as tough, touchy and ultimately like obstacles as they try to stop the woman from getting the information she was promised to have in order is she protects the prisoners family.  

Sound in this short clip has a mix of diegetic and non diegetic sound which helps the audience get a better understanding of what is happening through the use of tone in the dialogue and by using the representation theory to understand what the mood and tone are for the scene. Diegetic sound is first heard in the opening scene which is not peaceful but sounds very intense containing the noises of the the people shouting, the beeping of the cars and the screeching. This portrays Baghdad as a very intense place full of crowds of people as well as loud noises. Sound bridges are used over the dialogue where the audience are taken into two different worlds. This helps the audience clearly hear the difference between the two countries which makes them automatically choosing America to be the civilized country which makes the audience know that this film 'Homeland' was created by Americans just from how they view the world compared to themselves. here in this clip, the dialogue acts like a narrator for the story as the audience finds out everything such as the prisoner knowing intel of a an attack on thee US soil. Exiting the crazy loud sounds of the streets of Baghdad, inside the prison is silent where any word or sound creates and echo. When the woman and prisoner talk through the small little hole he has on the door of his  cell, he is belittled to the woman on the outside which makes him vulnerable and unable to get out of the conversation. When the word family is bought up we see another side of the prisoner, a side where we see humanity and a man who cares. When the soldiers run up to grip hold of the woman the prisoner quickly whispers to  the woman his intel, leaving the audience completely clueless as to what he said. Connoting back to the echo's, the clip finishes off with a fade to black and an echo of the prisoner shouting 

"my family".

Camera work has a big effect of the meaning conveyed using different angles, movements and compositions. From all of these movements we can distinguish between the different shots and meanings they portray. For example lots of hand held shots are used in the streets of Baghdad. These shaky shots work with the jump cuts and quick cuts showing the different people in the streets and the scene with all of the cars lined up. An establishing shot is first used in the opening of this TV drama which starts off by portraying the city as dusky and dim. An over the shoulder shot is seen on the prisoner looking out at his soon to be death bed where he will be hanged. This symbolizes his lack of freedom. The camera seems to follow a lot of the movement happening in the film such as the woman who got out of her car when there was a line of traffic conveying the representational group of gender. Her getting out of the car and onto the streets again shows that she is brave and independent and that she has to be quick if she wants to gets the prisoners intel on time. The camera follows her with fast movements and quick jump cuts mixed with close up which gathers everyone's facials emotions as seen through the prisoner where he looks very frightened and vulnerable. Instead of low angles, the film incorporates equal leveled angles during the woman and prisoners conversations. This symbolizes that the prisoner is innocent and only has intel and that he is not a criminal but only has info that could ruin the reputation of the Baghdad country. here, the audience is given an indication that the prisoner should not be in prison, but a free man. We know this due to the lack of the low angled shots which would belittle the prisoner. 

lastly, editing used in this clip helps create a fast paced film which is achieved from the shot reverse shots during conversations, sound bridges, , quick jump cuts and smooth transitions. These quick cuts help show the relationship and the woman, that they know each other as their conversation starts off very fast and casual. The shot reverse shots are fast making them seem even more intense relating back to the group of status. Continuity editing is not used in the beginning of the film as the camera is seem all over the place which connotes to the streets being intense and not peaceful. The camera moves closer to the characters faces which adds in the effect of seeing their expressions while flipping back to a shot of the streets. The end of the clip ends with a fade to black which could mean that the audience still has so much more to know and understand about what is happening. These editing hacks help increase audience engagement and as it is a TV series, it makes the audience want to go on and finish watching the episode and then on to watching the next episode.